Thoughts on engineering management, JavaScript, productivity, and life by Jordan Kohl.

The Island Review

If my girlfriend wasn’t obsessed with Scarlet Johansson (she has her entire filmography in her Netflix queue) I would never have watched The Island. The previews for it never enticed me and so I passed it off as a poorly done, cliché knock-off of every science-fiction movie from the past ten years. Now that I’ve seen it I have to say it’s a pretty well done, cliché knock-off of every science-fiction movie from the past ten years. The story is basically Brave New World meets The Matrix, but instead of machines using humans as a power source, humans are harvesting clones for their organs and offspring. Stylistically it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel: over-the-top action, humor from the absurdity of the situation, and all-together it has a very summer blockbuster feel. If you take either of the films too seriously you won’t get very much enjoyment out of them.

For example: a random person on IMDB panned the film for its blatant product placement, claiming it “ruined the film” for them. I have to laugh at the movie snobs who ever think this. If anything, a movie which uses generic replacements for obviously popular brands breaks the realism of the film for me more than an Xbox or Cadillac logo does (both of which are seen in The Island).

So I’m recommending this movie, just don’t go in expecting much and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It helps if you’re watching it with someone who can appreciate the simultaneous ridiculousness and awesomeness and you can yell things at each other and do high-fives while the movie is rolling.